Plateau attack: Lalong imposes curfew on three LGAs, as death toll reaches 22

Plateau Governor, Simon Lalong, has imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew in Jos North, Bassa and Jos South local government areas of the state.

The curfew which took effect from 6am to 6pm last Saturday, was in response to the killing of over 20 travellers by armed gangs said to be protesting a Fulani herdsmen attack on their community which had left up to five persons dead the previous day.

The unfortunate travellers who were travelling along the Jos North road ran into the protesters who opened fire on their convoy killing over twenty of them with many more unaccounted for.

Governor Lalong noted that “the curfew became necessary sequel to the unfortunate breach of peace along Rukuba road, Jos North LGA on 14th August 2021, where a convoy of commuters was attacked leading to killing of 23 people while 23 others sustained injuries and are currently receiving treatment, 26 others were rescued unhurt. So far, 20 suspects have been arrested and the security agencies are conducting investigations to get to the bottom of the matter”.

He added that having reviewed the reports and monitored the unfolding scenario, Government is concerned about the persisting tensions and reported attempts by some persons to take the laws into their hands by threatening to attack individuals and private facilities, as well as public property.

Therefore, in order to avoid further deterioration of the situation and to protect the lives and properties of citizens, the governor directed the imposition of curfew on Jos North, Bassa and Jos South Local Governments commencing 6pm to 6am from 14th August 2021.

“The curfew shall remain in place subject to further review by the State Security Council and directed residents to abide by the directive to enable security personnel maintain law and order in the affected areas and deal with those attempting to cause trouble by taking advantage of the situation to perpetrate crime” he declared.

Governor Simon Lalong sympathised with the families of those who lost their loved ones, and those injured in the unfortunate event, calling for calm and appeal to citizens to avoid any action or utterances that will further inflame the situation.

He described the incident as criminal conduct and should not be given any ethnic or religious colouration and asked that people should remain vigilant and be security conscious while doing everything possible to sustain peace and security of the State.

Meanwhile, reacting the latest killing in the Jos area, the Presidency has condemned Saturday’s attack on travellers returning from a religious event in Bauchi, passing through Jos, the Plateau State Capital and regrets the reported deaths of at least twenty-two persons with several others injured in that ambush on their travelling party.

In a statement, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said:

“It is widely known that Plateau State has been one of the states affected by herder-farmer clashes, which have, in a significant way, been curtailed following the intense peace-building efforts of the administration of Governor Simon Lalong.

“However, to be clear, this is not an agriculturalist-on-pastoralist confrontation – but rather a direct, brazen and wickedly motivated attack on members of a community exercising their rights to travel freely and to follow the faith of their choosing.

“With the evident preparedness of their attackers, it is clear this was a well-conceived and prearranged assault on a known target, location and religious persuasion of the travellers, not an opportunist ambush.”

The Presidential Spokesman added that the Presidency offers condolences to the families of the victims and continues to liaise closely with the local authorities – including security, the police, and governmental agencies.

“These kinds of attacks on our country’s citizens are unacceptable, heinous, and stand in complete contradiction to the teachings of the great religions of our nation.

“The Presidency stands steadfast with both Christians and Muslims at this time in condemnation of this latest attack and expects and insists that justice is swiftly – but fairly – delivered to the perpetrators,” he said.

He also quoted President Buhari as saying: “Make no mistake about it: in line with my commitment to protect all Nigerians, I have ordered our security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of this gruesome massacre of innocent travellers and bring them to justice.”

He concluded by saying that “the Presidency commends the ongoing efforts by the Governors of Plateau, Bauchi, and Ondo; the Sultan of Sokoto His Eminence Sa’ad Abubakar III and Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi as well as a number of notable Christian and Muslim leaders as they intensify efforts to calm down the situation.”